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Tangled Loyalties and Silent Wars

last update Last Updated: 2025-05-08 16:43:28

(Lorenzo)

I misjudged her, Valentina Russo, the woman no one expected to last a week. A placeholder. A gamble.

Now I’m sitting in the dark, nursing a bullet graze like some rookie. The De Luca estate is dead quiet, the kind of quiet that only comes before something breaks.

She wasn’t supposed to fight back. I was sure she’d fold.

But she didn’t.

She pulled the damn trigger.

And worse she meant it.

The fire in her eyes wasn’t panic. It wasn’t fear. It was something colder. Something calculated.

She made a choice.

Alessandro thinks it’s handled. Thinks locking me in one of his designer dungeons fixes the betrayal. He’s forgetting who I am. I bled for this family before he ever had a seat at the table.

I stand, the pain in my arm nothing compared to what’s coming. Outside the window, shadows crawl across the lawn like ghosts. Somewhere out there, Valentina’s awake. Watching. Waiting.

Good.

She should be.

She stepped onto this chessboard thinking she was a pawn. Turns out, she’s somethin
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Latest chapter

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  • A Substitute Bride For The Mafia Boss   The Fire I Didn't Ask For

    (Alessandro De Luca) She’s gone. Vanished into the fucking night like smoke. I slam the door shut behind me, the glass shattering against the wall. The guards flinch but keep their mouths shut. They know better. "Find her!" I bark into my phone. "Sweep every street, hack every goddamn camera. I want eyes on her within the next twenty minutes or I’ll burn this city to ash." Valentina Russo. No Valentina De Luca, technically. Legally. Regrettably. She has no idea what she’s walking into. She thinks this is some dramatic rescue mission white horse, loyal sister, flashing eyes. I saw it in her face before she left. The recklessness. The fire. The same fire that made her slap me across the face three nights ago and not flinch when I gripped her by the throat. The same fire that I can’t seem to put out. Damn her. I didn’t want her. I don’t want her. But somehow, she’s crawling under my skin like poison I can’t extract. And now, she’s out there alone, bold, and stupid digging ar

  • A Substitute Bride For The Mafia Boss   Her Ghost, My Face

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  • A Substitute Bride For The Mafia Boss   Dead Girls Don't Run

    NOX They think I’m a name in the dark. A ghost. A whisper. They’re wrong. I’ve been in their homes. I’ve watched them bleed. I’ve been the shadow behind the throne of power for years. I don’t want Valentina Russo dead. I want her broken. There’s a difference. And Alessandro De Luca? He’s already cracking. I watch the footage again grainy surveillance pulled from the Budapest explosion. Lorenzo limping. Alessandro dragging him. Both of them fooled. Sloppy. Human. And the girl? Valentina… Valentina is fire. She was never supposed to take her sister’s place. She wasn’t supposed to survive the wedding. And she damn sure wasn’t supposed to stir the beast inside him. But Bianca made a choice. She ran. And now, she's mine. +BIANCA) I wake up in silk sheets that don’t feel like mine. The scent of rosewater clings to the air, but underneath it, there's something metallic. Cold. Sharp. Blood. I sit up slowly. My wrists aren’t tied today. Progress? The door opens with a

  • A Substitute Bride For The Mafia Boss   Wolves in the Walls

    ALESSANDRO There’s blood on my cuffs. Marcello Bianchi is gagged and unconscious, slumped like a rag doll in the cellar chair. His last words still ring in my head. Nox. I’ve heard that name once before. Years ago. Buried in whispers beneath layers of classified De Luca intel. Whoever Nox is… they’re not just a ghost. They’re a weapon. And I don’t like mysteries I can’t control. I walk out of the cellar, shutting the steel door behind me, and head down the corridor. My thoughts are a storm churning, bitter, lethal. Valentina’s face flashes through my mind. Fierce. Reckless. And utterly unpredictable. I was supposed to marry Bianca Russo. Trained. Molded. A quiet lamb for a king. Instead, I got her sister. The wildfire. The curse in silk skin. And now God help me I’m not sure I want anyone else. My phone buzzes. A message from Salvatore: “Possible Nox link found in Budapest. Coordinates sent. Proceed with caution. Confirmed sightings of heavy security and underground mov

  • A Substitute Bride For The Mafia Boss   The Game Beneath the Game

    VALENTINA The silence in the war room is suffocating. Alessandro. Lorenzo. Me. Three bodies. Three motives. Too many secrets. Lorenzo leans against the wall, his arms crossed, his sharp gaze fixed on Alessandro like a hawk stalking its prey. "You've had this board up for how long? And you never once thought to tell her?" Alessandro’s jaw tightens. "Because I was still trying to confirm who was playing us." "Or covering your own tracks?" Lorenzo replies coolly. “I don’t need to cover anything,” Alessandro growls. “But maybe you do.” Their voices, low and cold, crackle like electricity between them. I sit in the chair, gripping the edge, my fingernails digging into the cushion. I’m not even the storm. I’m just the damn spark. "Enough," I say, my voice hoarse but steady. "If you two are going to kill each other, do it later. Right now, I want to know where my sister is." They both go quiet. Lorenzo’s eyes flick to me. "There’s chatter. She may have been moved to Eastern

  • A Substitute Bride For The Mafia Boss   A Cage of Gold and Guns

    VALENTINA Sleep is a stranger. After my late night conversation with Lorenzo, every cell in my body is on high alert. His words are stuck in my head like shards of glass: “Start looking in your own family first.” What did he mean by that? Who in my family could be involved in Bianca’s disappearance? And why? It’s past 3 a.m. when I slip out of bed. The air is heavy, the silence louder than ever. I walk barefoot through the marble hallway, tracing my fingers along the walls, until I find the thick oak door that leads to the restricted wing of the mansion the De Luca archives. I shouldn’t be here. But "shouldn’t" has never stopped me before. I use the brass pin I pulled from my hair and start fiddling with the lock. Click. Click. Clack. The door creaks open. Rows of locked drawers, surveillance monitors, filing cabinets, and ancient looking ledgers line the room. It's like stepping into the dark heart of this empire. I scan the room quickly and find a cabinet labeled Fami

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